Some time back we took a look at what was becoming more and more popular: smart watches. They’ve continued to grow in popularity, but the market that many thought would get replaced by this wave, fitness trackers, has continued to stay strong and even grow. Hence, in this article we thought it might make sense to look at the different reasons you might get either device so you can make a good decision for yourself.
Fitness Trackers
Fitness trackers do a pretty good job of what they say they do. They can track your exercise, but can also track your sleep, heart rate, weight, food and water consumption, etc. They are often designed to fit well and comfortably and can be as small or large as you want them to be. Armed with this information, you don’t just have better self-awareness of your level of fitness, but you have a silent accountability partner that tracks and measures your progress to your own goals (you can often also tailor the matching apps for these devices to turn up or turn down the encouragement via notifications and emails). For Gents who don’t normally wear watches, not to fear, these devices are usually slim and easy to wear. The best performing ones are the Fitbit Charge 4 and the Garmin Vivosmart 4.
Smart Watches
As electronic pay options have continued to increase, you might have been surprised to watch people pay using their smart watches at contactless payment terminals. We can’t deny there’s a cool factor involved, but it comes at a cost, as smart watches, especially those with contactless payment enabled, are more expensive that fitness trackers. However, it’s important to note that as we noted in our article about smart watches, you’re essentially wearing a mini-smartphone on your wrist. It’s there to help you get notifications and even manage emails and phone calls. Yes, it does do some fitness tracking as well, but despite what their makers would have us believe, they can’t do everything well. If you’re less interested in specific fitness tracking and more interested in tracking your emails or text messages while exercising, then a smart watch might be a better fit.
Bespoke Options
But, as to be expected, there are plenty of Gents who are attached to stylish watches as part of their look, so committing to a smart watch means losing those watches, some of which are family heirlooms. In this case a fitness tracker worn on the other wrist from your watch can give you the information about your body and health that you need while preserving the style you’ve cultivated over the years.
If you spend a fair amount of time outdoors and want something a bit more specialized, there’s the treat-yourself Garmin 6X Pro Solar. It’s solar powered, which can add three additional days to the 21 days it can last on a full charge, so no worrying about having to charge it while you’re on long hikes or camping trips. It has preloaded TOPO and ski maps for thousands of sites worldwide, is equipped with multiple navigations systems (GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo). It’s got access to contactless pay and music storage should you be somewhere far away from internet coverage and the cloud we all stream our music from these days.
What device(s) do you use, and why? Share with us in the comments below.
